HEROIN ADDICTION & RECOVERYDISCUSSION FORUM

This heroin addiction and recovery forum community provides free support & information on the best treatments for conquering heroin & opiate addiction. You are encouraged to join in the discussion by logging in or joining. Need help registering or logging in? Visit our contact page and fill out the brief contact form. An administrator will be with you promptly.

Announcement

Collapse

No announcement yet.

Edmonton school tries to protect students after overdose hits close to home

Edmonton school tries to protect students after overdose hits close to home

10-12-2017, 02:04 PM

You're playing Russian roulette,' school resource officer warns high school students

Calum Whytock was 18 when he drank codeine laced with carfentanil at a house party in April and died within seconds.

His mother, Mioara Whytock, remembers visiting his building that night to find flashing lights and a police officer running into her son's apartment.

"He was dead already," she said about her only child.

"I miss him so much I can't breathe sometimes ... I loved him with all my heart."

mioara whytock
Mioara Whytock's son, Calum Whytock, died of a carfentanil overdose in April. (Trevor Wilson/CBC)
Whytock joined students at Mother Margaret Mary High School on Tuesday for a drug-safety presentation by two school resource officers.

Her son graduated from the school in spring of 2016.

The Edmonton high school is trying to protect students from deadly opioids that have killed hundreds of Albertans in recent years.

Alberta opioid report shows fentanyl deaths still on the rise
Fentanyl overdoses killed 113 people in Alberta during first 3 months of year
As the officers talked about her son, Whytock sobbed in the crowd. She had planned to share Calum's story, but said she couldn't bring herself to do so.

Calum Whytock
Calum Whytock overdosed on carfentanil in April 2017. (Edmonton Catholic Schools)
"I would have told them, trust your parents," she said to CBC News after the event. "If you have a problem, go to them and tell them. They're going to do everything to help you.

"I would have done everything, everything for my son. I would have given my life for him just to help him."

Myhre said every weekend he worries another student will overdose on fentanyl or carfentanil.

"I treat these kids as my own children, so I can't even imagine how I would feel if that was to happen," Myhre said.

Brandon Myhre
Const. Brandon Myhre is the school resource officer at the Mother Margaret Mary High School in Edmonton. (Trevor Wilson/CBC)
During Tuesday's presentation, he asked those who knew Whytock to stand. Dozens of students and teachers rose from their seats.

"It's a different world now," Myhre said. "You're playing Russian roulette. "Our street drugs have been laced with fentanyl, and people, for the first time of going and doing drugs, are dying."

Nearly 1,000 people in Alberta have died from fentanyl-related overdoses in the past six years, according to Alberta Health statistics.

I do my best to educate myself regarding addiction and recovery related issue, treatment options, etc. however, I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and any advice you take from me is at your own risk and discretion